Galatians 3:5

"Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you do the works of the law or because you believe what you heard?".

Paul asks a very direct question there. What qualifies you for a life of the supernatural of the Spirit and for the working of miracles? The Greek language there is the present, continuous tense - the on-going giving of His Spirit and the on-going working of miracles. He says is it by the observing and doing of the law - your performance, your holiness, what you have earned or deserved or because you have simply believed the message? The message he has preached is that you are righteous in Christ apart from the law. He said is the Spirit of God moving among you because you believed the message or because you are doing the works of the law?He is writing to a church that once had great miracles but now the miracles had dried up and the supernatural diminished radically.

And now they had fallen into all kinds of terrible works of the flesh and all kinds of sin because they had gone back into the law and the law was bringing destruction on them. He is saying that you once had joy, you once had the moving of the Spirit, does God do these miracles because of your works of the law and your performance or because you believed the message of grace? That is a very direct question and deserves a very direct answer! Paul gives such a direct answer that it should shut the mouthes of the Pharisees and the critics of this grace message once and for all eternity through all the earth!This direct question deserves direct answers. Paul gives it very direct. The very next verse in (v6);

"Consider Abraham. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announce the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations will be blessed through you so those who have faith are blessed".

Those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham - the man of faith! (v10);

"All who rely on observing the law are cursed - for it is written; 'Cursed is everyone who does not do everything that is written in the book of the law".

The relying on the law will bring a curse because the works of the law are not of faith - but those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith. Why is faith so important? Because faith connects you with the blessing. Faith gives you confidence that you are the righteousness of God. Faith - when you stand to pray and this gets into your spirit and into your heart and the seed gets in there and you lift your hands to pray and say; "Father, I thank you that I am a man or woman of faith and I am the righteousness of God and I praise you - yes I did some mistakes yesterday but I praise you that I am the righteousness of God". Immediately the grace and the power will come upon you.His Presence will always come because I know that I am the righteousness of God!

"The law is not based on faith - on the contrary the man who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written; 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles who come to Christ Jesus so that by faith we may receive the promise of the Spirit".

The relying on the law will bring a curse because the works of the law are not of faith - but those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham the man of faith. Why is faith so important? Because faith connects you with the blessing. Faith gives you confidence that you are the righteousness of God. Faith - when you stand to pray and this gets into your spirit and into your heart and the seed gets in there and you lift your hands to pray and say; "Father, I thank you that I am a man or woman of faith and I am the righteousness of God and I praise you - yes I did some mistakes yesterday but I praise you that I am the righteousness of God". Immediately the grace and the power will come upon you.

His Presence will always come because I know that I am the righteousness of God!

Reference: Rob Rufus - "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 3 - "Qualifications For The Blessings - Faith or Works?"" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 21st September 2008.

Romans 10:1-4

"Brothers, my hearts desire and prayer for the Israelites is that they may be saved".

I believe that every Christian should have a desire for the people of Israel - the native Jews - the people of the Old Covenant lineage that brought the Messiah. The Jewish people - the Messanic race that brought the Messiah into the earth and I believe that we should pray for the peace of Jerusalem and stand in faith for Israel while loving Arabs and hoping and praying for reconciliation. There are many hundreds of thousands of Jewish people coming from the ex-Soviet Union and coming into Israel in these last few years and many of them are coming to Christ - they didn't grow up in the land of Israel - but many of them are coming to Christ and we do believe that the people of Israel - their eyes are going to be opened and they will see their Jewish Messiah Jesus Christ and be born again and gain righteousness by faith and not by works of the law.

"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God - but their zeal is not based on knowledge since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own".

What is that? It is self-righteousness. It is seeking to establish it by the law - it's self-righteous.

"Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes".

What is the basis for the blessing of God? When I get a Christian come upto me and say; "I need healing - I have served in the church all my life, I've been good, I've done this and that" - I know that person is not going to get healed. Because they are hoping to get healed on the basis of their self-righteousness instead of being healed on the basis of the gift of God's righteousness. They are not submitting to God's righteousness - they are promoting their works of righteousness. Then none of the blessings will come their way and Galatians 3 says the curses come on those who are self-righteous.

Reference: Rob Rufus - "The Struggle For The Authentic Part 3 - "Qualifications For The Blessings - Faith or Works?"" - City Church International, Hong Kong - Sunday 21st September 2008.